By: Nevada Ryan
ACT, Inc. just announced it will be making significant changes to the ACT test. Additionally, more information has become available from Inside Higher Ed, which conducted an exclusive interview with ACT CEO Janet Godwin. Here is what we know so far.
What’s changing?
- Optional science section: The Science section will be optional on the new ACT. The core sections of the new version will be English, Math, and Reading, and those wishing to take the Science section will need to manually request it, in the same way that current registrants need to request to take the writing/essay portion of the test. This allows students to choose from the following options: the ACT, the ACT with Science, the ACT with Writing, or the ACT with both Science and Writing.
- Shorter test: The new ACT will be shorter in terms of time, length of passages, and number of questions (44 fewer in all).
- More time per question: The new ACT gives students more time to answer each question.
What’s staying the same?
- Scoring scale: The new ACT will still be scored on a scale of 1–36. Students will still receive individual section scores for English, Math, and Reading, and the composite score will be the average of those three core section scores.
- Paper and computer testing options: Students will still have the option to take the test on paper or online.
- Optional writing section: ACT will continue to offer the optional writing section.
- Fixed form: Unlike the updated digital version of the SAT, the new ACT will not be adaptive. The same test will be administered to every student on any given testing date.
When will these changes go into effect?
- April, June, and July 2025: Students taking the online ACT on national test dates in the US will have the option to take the new ACT.
- September 2025: The new ACT will be available for paper-based and international test-takers.
- Spring 2026: The updated ACT will be available for school-day testing in the US for participating districts, with ACT anticipating that many states and districts will continue to require the Science section.
What does this mean for you?
While we know of the broad structural changes, it is not clear at this time if the shortened version will also be accompanied by different content. The new shortened version of the SAT, for instance, also came with a completely reworked Reading and Writing section that entailed many different question categories. It is therefore possible that the ACT’s new shorter test may also contain similar content changes in addition to its structural updates.
We also don’t know how colleges and universities will take these changes into admissions considerations. They may of course treat this new version of the ACT the same way they treat the current version, just as they consider the new SAT to be just as valid as the recently retired version. That said, the Science section is a substantial and highly challenging component of the overall ACT, so until more is known about how colleges feel about its omission (along with these other changes), we recommend that US students testing during the 2024-2025 school year not make any large-scale changes to testing plans. Instead, they should continue to rely on the established options: the digital SAT and the current/paper ACT.
We are monitoring these developments closely. Please check our ACT page periodically for the most updated information.